TN:Police hope to stop shootings they believe are gang war

[Christina Marie]

Police hope to stop shootings they believe are gang war

Nov 25, 2005, 03:07 PM PST Funeral home latest round in gang war shootings

Reported by Dennis Ferrier

E-mail: dferrier@wsmv.com

First came a crazy shootout in front of a Nashville bar. That was followed by an even crazier shootout at a local funeral home. Now police are asking, is this an escalating gang war, or just an argument that threatens to endanger innocent people?

Saturday night at the Hopper's, all the action is outside. An old-fashioned shootout as two Hispanic gangs have at it.

22 year-old Jose Salina dies in a car, but the rumble isn't over.

Wednesday, Salina's family is trying to bury him at Affordable Funerals on Woobine Street. A black car pulls up and opens fire. Bullets fly everywhere. Three people are hit, including a girl.

No one can even remember a shooting at a funeral home in Nashville.

Friday, Affordable Funerals was back open but no one was answering the door.

"It’s just tragic,” a worker said on the phone. “The family is trying to deal with this. It’s very difficult. I don't want to say anything else."

Police however are saying much more. They know that the people who shot Jose Salina were coming to shoot more of his friends.

Detectives say it’s an intimidation factor, that the suspects do what ever they feel is the right thing to do at the time, even if it’s an impulse reaction.

Now it’s up to police to put an end to this before the next act of this deadly gang rumble.

There may be gang members involved, but there are also lots of innocent people dodging bullets.

“The people who are doing the shooting don't care who they hit as long as they hit somebody and keep the psychological thing going.” Metro Police Detective Joe Winter said.

Police hope to end this battle before it escalates or anyone else is hurt.

http://www.wsmv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4165643